Expert: Don’t Stress About Workouts and the Stress Hormone

Assistant Professor of Exercise Science Alexander Rothstein, Ed.D., is one of several experts quoted in a Dazed article dispelling myths about exercise and cortisol. As a growing number of wellness influencers encourage women to ditch lifting weights in favor of low-intensity exercises like walking and Pilates, claiming that more intense workout routines do more harm than good, Rothstein explains that this concern is largely unnecessary. Typically, high cortisol is correlated to the stressors people encounter during an ordinary day, including lack of sleep or being overworked, he explains. This means stress-management techniques, including high-intensity exercise as part of a well-rounded fitness regimen, will lower baseline cortisol levels over time.

“Cortisol is not inherently a bad thing, but it gets a bad reputation when people live chronically stressful lives…it’s pretty difficult to exercise yourself into [harmful] cortisol levels,” he says. “A controlled cortisol spike [while working out] is actually healthy. It can help build resilience and tolerance, as your body becomes better at handling stress.”